The Challenges of Reality
by Sherlockian-Vortex
Summary: The sequel to "The Merging of Realities" in which Sherlock, John, Dean, Sam, The Doctor, and Castiel all slipped through a time/space rip between their realities and the fictional characters all ended up in Lucy's reality. In this story, it turns out that it wasn't just the heroes that were pulled into Lucy's reality. They must outwit the antagonists and save the world... again.
1. Chapter 1

*Credit to the character creators*

*Sorry the first chapter is so short, but I'll be posting chapter two with it, so it'll all be okay.*

**Chapter One:**

The museum basement was wet and dark. Not a place a person would ever want to be at around midnight. However, one man wandered through the aisles of ancient pottery and wax models. A gentle drip of water boomed in the background of the quiet building. The man stopped for a moment, looking both ways before picking up his phone.

Light from the screen reflected onto his face as he scrolled through the current weather reports for the town he was in. It was eleven degrees Celsius with a ninety- two percent change of rain, but that report didn't make sense. As far as he had knew the day was sunny and twenty-one degrees Celsius.

The man shut off his phone screen angrily and shoved the device into his pocket. He tried to think of what happened. One moment he was on a rooftop gloating over his greatest victory and the next… he was here in this building.

He sighed and let out a deep breath. He'd been in worse situations before, and at least this was interesting. How could a person just magically appear in a different location without their knowledge? As far as he could tell, he had not been poisoned. He hadn't been captured. He simply was… transported. That sounded too insane to be a possible answer, but he didn't rule out that option out yet. It was unlikely, but still plausible in an insane sort of way. But what if it was insane. He was insane. Insanity isn't really that bad once a person gets used to it.

The man pulled his phone out once more. He was going to have to get out of this museum and find a place to regroup.

"Good evening, Sir. Can I help you?" The man behind the desk was ordinary, so painstakingly ordinary. Everything from how he stood, reminding himself every so often to keep a straight back to how he kept glancing at the clock, obviously waiting for his shift to end. It was pathetic.

"Yes actually," he drawled, the words slipping off his tongue like liquid taffy. "I'd like a room."

"Of course, sir. Do you have a reservation?" The hotel worker was so boring, but most humans were.

"I don't." He kept his answers short and simple. It was best not to give out too many details in case he forgot them later.

"Let me check if we have any empty rooms." The worker bent down, examining the computer screen for extra rooms. His eyes kept flickering up to the stranger's face.

"Oh just get out with it. What do you want to ask me?" The man was in no mood to play games. He needed to think, be away from people like the hotel worker.

"I'm sorry Sir. You just look an awful lot like Andrew Scott." The worker was blushing and playing with papers on the front desk to hide his embarrassment.

"Andrew Scott?" The man asked, cocking his head. He'd never heard of the name before.

"Yeah. Andrew Scott. He's an actor, who played Moriarty on Sherlock. I guess you're not him. You just look really similar." The hotel worker grinned at him sheepishly, before turning back to the computer screen. The man stared at the hotel worker with a shocked expression. How could such a commonplace man know his name? "Uhh- There's an open room on the third floor. Is that okay?"

"That will be sufficient. Thank you." The man waited for the room key to be handed to him.

"James Mor-" The man cut himself short. He couldn't say his name was Moriarty. Apparently it was recognizable, and he couldn't allow that. "Moran. My name is James Moran."


	2. Chapter 2

*Credit it to the original creators of the characters*

**Sorry about the short first chapter. I promise that this one is a lot longer! Enjoy!**

**Chapter Two:**

Music was playing in the background, softly guiding the conversations around the room. Lucy was only half-listening to the music as she sat at a table near the front of the reserved section of the restaurant. Her parents had booked it for her graduation party. Lucy hadn't really wanted a party. Big deal, she had completed four years of college. She didn't think that it was much of an accomplishment.

Lucy glanced around the room filled with relatives she barely ever talked to. All, or at least most, of her extended family was there. But she couldn't tell second cousin Katherine from her third cousin in-law Sarah. Let alone know which one was the artist living in New York. A small sigh escaped from Lucy's lips. She always felt awkward at these gatherings. It wasn't that she didn't like her family, because she loved them even if she didn't see them often, she just didn't enjoy the large number of people in one room. All she wanted to do was go find Sam and Dean (and probably Castiel, since he'd been sticking close to the Winchesters last that she heard) and take off in the Impala. Sam had promised her that as soon as she graduated, she could join them. Dean of course hadn't been totally happy with that plan, but he relented when Lucy reminded him of both her skill and knowledge in the field of hunting.

_But God! This party is so DULL!_ Lucy hid a smile as she found that she wanted to shoot the wall with a gun. _Better let go of those Sherlock tendencies, they could easily cause trouble._

She tapped her fingers on the table, wondering how much longer she would be stuck in the restaurant when someone pulled up a chair next to her. She avoided looking at the person, hoping the, supposed, relative was just sitting down for a spell. She'd been talking to people for most of the evening, and she needed a break from the constant stream of questions, inquiring on her future.

"Congrats on graduating, Lucy!" Sam exclaimed, not the slightest bit turned off by Lucy's lack of social pleasantries.

"Sam?" Lucy swiveled her head to see the hunter. He had taken the seat right next to her and was holding two beers.

"Obviously," he grinned, extending one of the beers toward her. Lucy took it gratefully. She had been avoiding the bar for most of the night, since it was always crowded with people.

"I can't believe you came!" Lucy grinned, completely unable to tame her excitement. "I mean, I knew that you were sent an invitation, but I saw an article in the paper this morning that was right up your ally."

"Cas and Dean are working on that case actually. I took the day off to celebrate with you. I mean, this is a really great accomplishment. You better be proud of yourself." Sam rolled his eyes at the look on Lucy's face that clearly showed that she couldn't care less. "At least be proud that you made it through the last few months. You basically missed an entire week of classes due to the whole time- space rip case when we all suddenly popped into the picture. And I don't even know what it was like once you had to go back to school after all that. Well, I could imagine what it was like, since I sort of went through the same thing. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is that you made it!"

"Thanks," Lucy flushed. "You know I've been a little confused on whether the debt will be worth graduating, but in the long run it probably is. I'm just glad to be moving on with the next phase of my life. I'm ready, you know?"

"I can understand that," Sam nodding his head. "But I also think that you shouldn't take this all for granted either. I'm not saying that you are. I'm just saying… enjoy the party. It's all for you anyway. Have some fun and loosen up for an hour or so and then we can leave." Lucy visually relaxed as Sam spoke. Her stiff posture melted to mold her chair and her apathetic mood dissipated more and more.

"It's not the greatest party I've ever been to. There are no good stories going around, and those are always the best part. I was eavesdropping on my Great Aunt Lucinda's conversation earlier. The most exciting bit of news that I heard was that Alexandra suddenly developed an allergy to eyeliner, and it was so bad that it made her eyes go red." Lucy smirked at Sam.

"It's not the eyeliner, is it?"

"Nope. I saw her take a hit in the bathroom. Honestly, we're in a nice restaurant. She could have at least taken that into consideration." Lucy crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"I see what you mean. That isn't even the _least_ bit exciting." Sam raised the corner of his mouth in a smile, like he always did when he was being sarcastic. He raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his beer.

"You have no idea how boring it's been, since the last case. I just- I'm still going with you guys right?" Lucy asked. She was only trying to reassure herself that she hadn't misheard the plan at any point. She was to graduate and then she'd become a hunter. Maybe it wasn't the very best life plan, but she was happy with it. Really, anytime that she could spend with Dean and Cas and Sam, especially Sam, she was happy with. However, as soon as the question was out of her mouth, Sam hesitated. He went to say something before hiding the action with a sip of beer. Finally he cleared his throat, Lucy still looking, now slightly worried, at him.

"Are you sure that's what you want? It's dangerous and once you get into this kind of life, you can't get away from it. Your whole future… it'll just be ghosts and demons. You'll never be able to escape that."

"Too bad I'm already a part of it," Lucy retorted immediately. She had meant it as a joke, but the response had come out harsher than she had expected it too. She felt herself fade slightly from the conversation. What if Sam just didn't want her around anymore? Jessica's death hadn't been that long ago for him. Maybe he didn't want her following down that same path, but hadn't Lucy already shown herself to be strong enough to take on that kind of life?

"I guess you are, aren't you?" Sam mused. "It is dangerous though. You could get hurt. You could die. And I've- I've been through that before, and I don't want to go through it again. "

"I hope you don't have to either," Lucy said solemnly. "But… that's also part of the job description. I've been through one case already and I'm not dead. Sam, I can take care of myself. Believe me, this is what I want. I'm called to go on an adventure and to save the world, not just sit around while it's in trouble, while _people_ are in trouble."

"You're sure about this?" Sam asked after a moment of contemplating Lucy's speech.

"Absolutely," Lucy reaffirmed, leaning over to plant a kiss on Sam's cheek. "So I'll be going with you to whatever motel you're currently calling home as soon as this banal social event is done."

"I can't argue with you, can I?"

"Nope." Lucy grinned and settled into a more comfortable position in her chair. She scanned the room, looking to see if everyone else was enjoying themselves. She wasn't a huge fan of social events, but she did love her family, and she didn't see them often. At least she was lucky enough to have a large extended family. Sam had no one besides Dean. Lucy reached over to grab his hand once she thought of this, comforting him without explaining why. There was music playing in the background. From what Lucy could tell, the only music that had been played the entire evening had been pop. It was fine and fit the atmosphere, but it wouldn't have been Lucy's first choice. Everyone else seemed to like it, though, so that was good at least.

The current song ended (it had been Ke$ha or someone. Lucy couldn't tell a lot of the artists apart), and it changed to an instrumental song that was so utterly familiar, but Lucy couldn't quite place it. The song seemed to be unpleasing to the crowd as most of them left the dance floor as it played.

"The music choices here are bloody terrible. Who plays instrumental stuff at a party? It's just appalling." A rich, slightly Scottish voice said from the seat to Lucy's right.

"I'd have to say. Aren't you getting a bit full of yourself now? This is clearly Murry Gold's work. I'd hazard to guess it was the Tenth Doctor's theme." Lucy said, struggling to keep a straight face. Sam was cracking up to the left of her, causing Lucy to turn toward the Time Lord. There she saw perhaps the most offended look she had ever seen on a person's face.

"Oi! I like it. I've got a theme song and everything. I might as well use it. And don't worry, I didn't watch the show. I just listened to the soundtrack." The Doctor smiled widely at her before pulling her into a hug. "Congratulations Lucy."

"Thank you Doctor," Lucy replied warmly, pulling herself out of the hug. "I'm surprised you were able to make it. I don't think I was even able to send you an invitation earlier. I couldn't figure out what time you were in."

"No you definitely told me. I saw you just the other day. You were with the Winchesters- Hello Sam! Nice to see you're still doing well- and that angel fellow and you told me the date yourself." The Doctor replied, running his hand through the hair on the back of his head.

"I haven't seen Dean in months, and I've only occasionally seen Sam. They've been really busy lately. There was a lot of monster hunting to be done because of the timey whimey incident, so they've been tracking them down and taking care of business. I think they've disposed of yellow eyes as well as a lot of the demons that managed to sneak in. I haven't heard of much activity outside of the demons, so I don't think any of the less powerful monsters got through the rip. But I can only imagine how horrible it's been to control everything." Lucy said trailing off in thought. Then she added thoughtfully. "Perhaps you caught us at a future date?"

"Oh… that could have been it." Doctor said, his eyes trailing off to the side to remember the incident. "Yep. That makes a lot of sense now. Oh! You told me to remind you to bring your adapter. The one that has a plug for Europe, so you can keep all of your devices charged."

"Okay, I'll put it into my bag before I leave. I hadn't been planning on bringing it…" Lucy trailed off. "Am I going to Europe for some reason?"

"I don't know. You didn't say." The Doctor shrugged. "But that seems to be as good a guess as any."

"What do you think Sam?" Lucy asked.

"I mean, Dean and I haven't ever done an out of country gig, so I'm not sure. Maybe you're going to visit Sherlock and John? Didn't they move to London?"

"Yeah they did. They're living on North Gower Street. I haven't had a chance to talk to them much. Whenever I phone John, he and Sherlock seem to have a client, so I guess they've been doing well." Lucy shrugged. "That's so exciting, though! I can't wait to visit them."

"Were any of us going too?" Sam asked the Doctor curiously as he rolled his beer on the table as he did so.

"No idea. Sorry." The Doctor replied, dragging the corners of his lips down in a comical frown.

"Best to leave the future where it is and approach it when we get there," Lucy shrugged. Of course, she was curious, but she realized that it would be better not to press the Doctor. She wasn't entirely sure if he was telling them everything he knew. However, she knew better than to press him at all.

"Quite true. Quite true indeed…" The Doctor trailed off in his own thoughts before focusing his attention back on Lucy just as the song was changing to _The Twist_. "Would you care for this dance?"

"Hey Lucy, can you come over here for a sec," Alexandra stage whispered to her left. Lucy sighed silently and let herself be dragged by her cousin. She shot a "help me!" look toward Sam and the Doctor, but neither one moved to help her, continuing the current conversation without her.

"It's nice to see you Alexandra," Lucy partially lied. She had been close to Alex when they were kids, but they'd grown apart over the years. Lucy chose books when Alex chose drugs. It was unfortunate, but conversations always seemed awkward now that there was little common ground for them.

"And you too. Congrats by the way on college and everything," Lucy assumed that this wasn't why Alex was talking to her, so she nodded her head in thanks and didn't respond otherwise. It was usually best to let her cousin say her thoughts first before starting the conversation. "I was wondering if you could introduce me to hunky boy over there, the one with the long, glorious hair. He'd one of your friends, right? Is he single?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder to see that Alexandra was pointing at Sam. A wave of jealousy and laughter hit her simultaneously. She turned back to Alex and responded, trying to keep as straight a face as possible. "That's Sam. He's not single. Actually, he's my boyfriend."

"Oh," Alex pouted only momentarily, before her eyes lit up. "How'd you manage to date a guy like that? I thought you liked skinny guys, or girls. Honestly, I wasn't sure, you haven't dated anyone since tenth grade."

"I was just in the right place at the right time I suppose," Lucy responded. There had been a lot of luck in their encounter, which Lucy was grateful for. However, a thought crossed her mind. What if she hadn't been there? Would she be dating anyone now? Would she have graduated early? The answer would probably be no in both instances. Sam, and everyone else for that matter, had changed her life much more than she had originally thought. It hurt her head too much to think about, so Lucy turned her attention back to Alexandra, who was now eyeing up the Doctor.

"Is the other guy and ex or something?" She asked.

"No, he's just a friend." Lucy responded with a slight smile.

"He's old." Lucy had to hold back a laugh at Alex's comment. She didn't even know the half of it.

"A little I guess. He was one of the librarians at the school and we became friends over the last semester or two. He helped me a lot with researching projects." That last bit had been at least a little true. She'd called the Doctor up a few times to ask questions about her final paper topics. One time it had even resulted in an impromptu trip to a 1920's party, where Lucy had gotten to talk with F. Scott Fitzgerald. It had been quite a wonderful experience.

"That's neat. He sounds and looks more like your type than Sam does." Alex said, still clearly eyeing Sam. It was unnerving. Lucy knew that her cousin wouldn't do anything about her attraction to Sam other than look at him. She respected relationships, but her consistent staring certainly didn't help anything.

"Hello dear. It's so nice that you're talking to Alexandra, you two used to be so close." Lucy's mother had come up behind her and intruded on the conversation, which Lucy was relieved about. She and Alex were quickly running out of discussion topics. "I was wondering if you could introduce me to the two men over there. They look familiar, so they must be your friends."

"Yep, They're with me. Here I'll introduce you now. Bye Alex!" Lucy waved over her shoulder. She felt slightly guilty for leaving their conversation to early, but she was glad to be returning to her friends.

It didn't take long for Lucy and Mrs. Peverall to navigate through the crowd of people to reach the Doctor and Sam. The two men looked up when they approached.

"Mom this is my boyfriend Sam, Sam this is my mom." Lucy gestured to the hunter. Mrs. Peverall shook hands with Sam, and shot a look at Lucy, as if asking how she could have ended up with a guy like him. Lucy shrugged. She still wasn't entirely sure how the two of them had gotten together, but she wasn't going to argue it.

"And then this is-" Lucy scrambled wondering if she should call him the Doctor or something else. Thankfully he cut in before Lucy said anything else

"John Smith. I'm a friend of Lucy's. It's lovely to meet you." The Doctor extended his hand to Lucy's mother, and Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't figured out how to explain that the Doctor was a name, let alone that both of them used to be fictional characters, and now they were living and breathing in this universe.

"It's very nice to meet you too." Mrs. Peverall responded, shaking his hand. "It's always wonderful to meet Lucy's friends. Though, you, Mr. Smith, seem quite a bit older than my daughter."

"Well… I'm only a few years older. I'm sure that she's told you, but we were library buddies. We worked on finding research together. I'm in the last stages of the graduate program for English Literature, so I had to do a lot off research. We just kept bumping paths and finally decided to talk to each other." The Doctor threw a wink over at Lucy once he relayed their cover story.

"I see. How nice. You two must have made quite a pair in the library. Lucy's always been a wonderful researcher." Mrs. Peverall ruffled Lucy's short black hair.

"Mom, you're embarrassing me." Lucy laughed, swatting away her mother's hand.

"I'm allowed to do that Dear." She responded brightly. Then she turned to Sam whispered in my ear, "Is it serious between you two?"

Lucy glanced at him quickly. The hunter managed to be both awkward and regal in the room. It was surreal to be with him, but Lucy certainly didn't want to end it, and she hoped that Sam didn't either. She nodded hesitantly at first and then definitely. "Yeah, I like him a lot. I think we'll be together for a while."

"In that case…" She trailed off. "Sam, honey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course," Sam nodded, sparing a glance toward Lucy. Lucy shrugged and drifted closer to the Doctor as her mother and Sam walked a little ways away.

"Do you know what that's about?" The Time Lord gestured to the pair.

"Well, my mom is a little protective when it comes to relationships, since I tend to be introverted around people. So she's probably warning him about that, but then telling him that while I might seem gentle I could snap his neck in a second." Lucy said all this rather plainly, closely watching the pair.

"It's the 'hurt her and she'll kill you' talk then?"

"Basically," Lucy laughed, as Sam shot her a slightly scared look while her mother kept talking. "But she really doesn't have to worry. She's the one who got me into martial arts in the first place, and she knows the extent of my skills more than Sam does. I'll be just fine." Lucy grinned at the Doctor.

"I'm sure you will be Lucy."

Sam and Lucy stepped into the small motel on Maple Street where the Winchesters plus one (now plus two) were currently residing. The room wasn't very different than any other motel room Lucy had seen on the television show. It was mostly clean, aside from a few empty beer bottles on the table and some plaid shirts thrown haphazardly onto one of the beds. The room smelt faintly of corn chips and tobacco smoke, but Lucy didn't mind too much. Her old apartment had smelled of burnt hair and grease.

"How long will you guys be here for?" Lucy asked, dropping her duffle bag from her shoulder onto the floor.

"Dunno." Sam shrugged. "It depends on how difficult the case is. We might leave in the morning or we might be here for another week. You can never really tell."

"Do you have a guess?" Lucy asked. She circled the room, barely even paying attention to Sam's answer. She was beyond ecstatic to be in the motel room with him. More than that, she couldn't believe that she had the opportunity to go on this adventure. Of course, Sam and Dean wouldn't call it an adventure. It was dangerous, unclean, and mostly unpleasant. Although, Lucy couldn't help but think that's a large part of adventures. Bilbo and Frodo had both left their comfortable homes and gone on adventures. They didn't have the best conditions all the time, but at the end of it all they had managed to make a difference. That's what appealed to Lucy the most. Sure, she was going to spending who knows how long with people, who she had first learned to love as characters. It was amazing really. Fictional characters becoming real? Lucy still couldn't believe her luck that the event had ended up surrounding her.

A wave of guilt washed over her at that thought, though. There were so many other people who deserved this more than she did. Individuals, who were suicidal and gained strength from the shows, deserved to meet their ideals more than she did. Lucy, well she had her down points in life, but she had gotten lucky there too. She had mostly supportive parents, both financially and emotionally. Of course, she'd had those days too. Where she wanted to die, or rather… she just wanted to cease existing. Let the world carry on around her without involving her, to just flicker out of existence. Those feelings had been the worst in high school. It was a small school in a small town, and she just didn't fit in with everyone else. Then came college. Lucy had been able to find her niche there, even if she didn't have many close friends. It had all been okay.

"Lucy? Hey. Lucy, are you okay? You haven't said anything in over ten minutes." Sam didn't sound worried per se, but he seemed uneasy as he watched Lucy circle the room slowly. She held out her hand, touching any object in reach as she stared blankly ahead of her.

"What?" Lucy shook her head slightly to clear away her thoughts, which were quickly straying from the topic. She looked at Sam, who was shifting from foot to foot, watching her movements intently. Lucy took her hand off the wall where it had been tracing the swirls on the wallpaper. It was shaking slightly. Quickly, grasping it in her other hand, she began to wring them like a nervous mother. "Sorry. I just sort of… blanked out. It happens sometimes. It's just been a long day. I'm fine."

"I was just kidding…Usually you interrupt my every sentence." Sam said, lowering his eyebrows in concentration. "Are you sure everything is fine?"

"Absolutely," Lucy answered with a nod. She put her hands behind her back casually, if only to get them out of Sam's sight. He didn't notice, staring instead at Lucy's face. He tried to gauge how truthful she was being. When he finally looked away, Lucy knew that he didn't believe her, but the hunter didn't press her either.

Thankfully, they were spared any sort of awkward silence by a sudden explosion of sound as the motel door opened, bringing in a cold wind and a few snowflakes.

"Hey, Sammy, you're back! Is Lucy with you?!" Dean yelled from just outside the door. Castiel was holding it open as Dean was making his way from the truck, his arms full of grocery bags.

"I'm here Dean!" Lucy called back. She was grinning from ear to ear. It seemed like her life was falling back into place now. It was funny how she could feel so at home in a motel room with crappy heating.

"Hurry up Dean, it's freezing outside." Sam called, but he was smiling too.

"Oh shut up, bitch. I'm moving as fast as I can," Dean replied affectionately as he walked through the door with all the bags. "Chances are you two scumbags ate at the party, but the food was probably crap. So I bought some Chinese take-out and the _Avengers_. Figured we could celebrate your graduation, Lucy."

Dean's eyes lit up as he spoke, casting warmth into the room. It was startling for Lucy to watch. She still wasn't quite over the fact that this Dean was from season two. All of the crap he'd gone through after season two didn't happen to him. However, Lucy noticed some differences in his personality. He was definitely happier than the current season of Dean, but he seemed more grounded. Maybe, it was simply that he had Cas now, or that he'd gotten to know Cas earlier in his timeline, and their relationship was evolving differently, which was probably weird for Cas. Cas who was strong and sturdy, much like boulder in the middle of a tempest. Cas who didn't fully understand humans but was compelled to protect them anyway. Cas who prized his loyalty with the Winchesters more than his own life. Cas who was currently trying to open a beer bottle without Dean noticing and doing an awful job at it.

The angel looked up at Lucy, silently pleading for her to help him as Dean laid the Chinese food out on the table. The newly grad rolled her eyes and went over to help Castiel.

"Dean, that sounds wonderful! Like the perfect evening, in fact." Lucy smirked. She took the bottle from Cas. She spoke to him in a whisper, "You're an angel. You don't need to eat or drink. Why are you trying to open a beer bottle?"

"I don't know it just looked really good, and for some reason my vessel wanted it." Castiel whispered back fiercely.

"Is that normal for an angel? I mean-" Lucy was cut off in the middle of her reply when the bottle finally opened, spewing its contents into her face and as well as Castiel's.

Sam's laugh echoed from the other end of the room, causing Dean to turn around and see the two individuals drenched in alcohol. With a smirk he teased, "You might want to slow down a bit. I only bought one six pack."

Lucy let loose a laugh and Cas grinned next to her. Maybe it was a dangerous life being a hunter, but Lucy hadn't felt this joyful in a long time. If anything, it seemed that this decision might possibly be the best one she had ever made.


End file.
